New respiratory illness in dogs forces QCA shelter to take action

A respiratory illness in dogs may be making its way through the Quad Cities.

King’s Harvest No Kill Shelter in Davenport is taking precautions. “We do have this elderly dog downstairs; her name is Bailey,” Andrea Gaskin, King’s Harvest Assistant Director, said. “And especially with her being older, I just get really worried about her getting sick.”

Gaskin says she thinks of Bailey, an approximately 7-year-old mixed breed dog that the shelter is currently caring for, as her own dog. The new respiratory illness circling dogs all over the United States is worrying volunteers at King’s Harvest who all have dogs and other animals that they care for on a day-to-day basis. “That would just be really heartbreaking,” Gaskin said. “We’d probably have to shut down. I’ve heard that it can last upwards of 5 weeks; sometimes even longer. If that spreads to all 30 of our dogs, we would have to shut down our dog area, and people can’t come and adopt for months.”

Ashley Hilliker is Hospital Manager at SportsVet Animal Medical Center in Savoy, Illinois, and urges dog owners to watch for symptoms, which include coughing, sneezing, snotty nose, and generally not feeling well. “There are cases where dogs have become sick enough, and they have passed away,” Hilliker said. “But, you can also take your pet, have them seen by your veterinarian and their management, and supportive care that dogs have done fine with the correct veterinarian management.”

The City of Bettendorf has announced they will close Crow Creek Park, a dog park on Devils Glen Road in Bettendorf. They also cancelled the Holiday Dog Walk on December 3. The City of Davenport will also be closing both of their dog parks starting Wednesday, November 29 as a precaution.

King’s Harvest is also taking extra precautions against the respiratory illness. “We’re asking some screening questions before people bring their dogs in asking if they’ve recently gone to the dog park, the vet, the groomers,” Gaskin said. “Basically, if they’ve been exposed to any large group of dogs, we’ll ask that they don’t bring the dogs here, and in general, we’ve been examining every dog every morning and making sure they’re not displaying signs of illness.”

The American Veterinary Medical Association is recommending that dogs avoid contact with other dogs or animals, from outside their household until the illness is contained.